At 07:31 AM 15/02/01 +1100, Drew McKinnie wrote:
> Hi folks, Drew McKinnie (Canberra GC) here I had the pleasure of
>attending Avalon airshow yesterday and today Lots of good business done...
>but a real pleasure to watch Manfred weaving his aerial magic in the Salto
>yesterday For those (like me) who have never seen him do his stuff before,
>it is a MUST
On takeoff and initial climb behind a
>Pawnee, Manfred waggled his wings left and right to good bank angles - and
>I had to assure one spectator that most launches are not like that, and
>no, he was not having trouble staying behind the tug!
Yes, it is amazing to watch Manfred Radius do his stuff in his Salto. (but
what would our CFI do to us if we did that)
I towed him for his 1999 Avalon Airshow performance and when first
introduced to him he asked me if I was happy for him to do aileron rolls
(full rolls) behind the tug immediatley after takeoff. My first impression
was "what the hell am I getting in to".
But after receiving a full and thorough brief from Manfred about Manfred's
requirements for his precision aerobatic performance, followed immediatley
by my thorough brief about my requirements for his sedate activities behind
my club's Pawnee we had a great time and he thrilled the crowds without me
filling my pants, or more importantly, breaking my club's aircraft.
With our Aussie bravado I am amazed that not one of our sun-loving glider
ghurus has emulated what Manfred Radius is doing.
Are we Aussies getting timid or is Manfred way out there and we have more
sense? (With all due respect to Manfred's fantastic abilities.)
During one of the first practices for his double ribbon cut in 1999 Manfred
flew under the bottom ribbon which was 23ft above the ground. After he had
landed from his half inverted circuit, his first reaction to missing the
ribbons was that he was too high. He would not believe that he had flown
under the ribbons, despite the very persuasive efforts of his ground crew.
I was flying the tug and didn't witness the near hit.
The ground crew holding the poles which supported the ribbons flinched as
they saw him pass under the ribbons, inverted at 140 kts, with the tip of
his V-tails a metre or so above the ground. The Salto's "incidence" angle
when inverted at 140kts, and flying level with the ground is quite large,
meaning that while Manfred's head in the cockpit was probably 12 feet of
the ground, his tail tips (being about 7 feet lower than his head position)
were very close to the ground.
When Manfred viewed a video taken by our club president of the failed
ribbon cut, he turned white immediately.
To his immense credit he never missed another ribbon cut for any of the
trade day or public day flying displays.
Just goes to show that "only perfect practice makes
perfect"..............but by what margin.
My body has been underground.............but is yet to PENETRATE its surface.
--
* You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list.
* To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
* with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message
* or with "help" in the body of the message for more information.
